Finn Latvala beat Mads Østberg in their duel by 0.3sec, the Norwegian impressing on his Citroën C3 debut to hold third as competitors headed north to Torsby for an overnight halt. Kris Meeke, driving another C3, and Hyundai i20 pilot, Andreas Mikkelsen, were tied in fourth, a further 0.3sec adrift. Neuville completed the top six in another i20. Toyota’s Esapekka Lappi and championship leader, Sébastien Ogier, lost time after sliding wide on the same corner near the finish. They were eighth and ninth respectively, but just 2.9sec covered the top 10. New Zealander Hayden Paddon finished the stage in seventh place, just 2.1 seconds from the lead. Tomorrow mixes stages in the snowy forests of Sweden and Norway. Two identical loops of three tests are followed by a final stage at Torsby. It adds up to 140.10km of competitive action.SS1 Karlstad 1 - 1.90km 1:34.8 "it's good to be back, a good way to shake off the cobwebs. Feeling good, feeling relaxed. We will push tomorrow, hopefully we can be back near front fighting" (photo from shakedown)#PaddonsPack #PaddonsBack pic.twitter.com/GdODoTv4Ak
— Hayden Paddon (@HaydenPaddon) February 15, 2018
Leading positions after SS1
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM | CAR | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 1m32.7s |
| 2 | Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 0.3s |
| 3 | Mads Ostberg, T.Eriksen | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 0.6s |
| 4 | Kris Meeke, P.Nagle | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 0.9s |
| 4 | Andreas Mikkelsen, A.Jager | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 0.9s |
| 6 | Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 1.0s |
| 7 | Hayden Paddon, S.Marshall | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 2.1s |
| 8 | Esapekka Lappi, J.Ferm | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 2.2s |
| 9 | Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford | 2.5s |
| 10 | Craig Breen, S.Martin | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 2.9s |
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